Grimnir

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Old Norse Grímnir (“masked one”). Compare Old Norse Grímr, from which comes the synonym Grim. See also Icelandic gríma (“mask”).

Proper noun

Grimnir

1. (Norse mythology) Odin; specifically, the name adopted by Odin in Grímnismál ("The Lay of Grimnir", also called "Grimnir's Sayings", in the Poetic Edda).

   Synonym: Grim

   • 2010, Heilan Yvette Grimes, The Norse Myths, Hollow Earth Publishing, page 116:

     Grimnir taught Geirrodr how to unseat an opponent from his horse with a minimum amount of effort. And sometimes late in the evening Grimnir talked of Asgardr and the Æsir themselves, as if he had actually been there.

   • 2014, Jeramy Dodds, transl., The Poetic Edda, Coach House Books, page 67:

     To torture him into talking, the king strung Grimnir between two fires for eight nights.
     King Geirrod had a ten-year-old son named after his brother, Agnar. Agnar gave Grimnir a whole horn to drink, saying it was wrong for his father to torture an innocent man.

Related terms

• Grímnismál
• Grimsby

Translations

name used by Odin

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Further reading

• Grímnismál on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• List of names of Odin on Wikipedia.Wikipedia